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Repro Shabbat WELCOME TO REPRO SHABBAT We’re so thrilled that you’re here to celebrate the critical importance of advocating for reproductive health, rights, and justice, ensuring that all have access to the quality, comprehensive care that they want and need to thrive with dignity. 2 Reproductive freedom is a Jewish value. Our tradition not only permits the termination of pregnancy, but even requires it when the life of the pregnant person is at stake. Pikuach nefesh—saving lives—is a key principle in our tradition, as is upholding human dignity—kavod habriyot—and working to make our society more safe and just for all. And, the fact of the matter is, it’s a part of our lives; one in four people who can get pregnant will terminate a pregnancy by the age of 45. In the wise words of reproductive justice activist and We Testify founder Renee Bracey Sherman, “everyone loves someone who has had an abortion, whether they know it or not.” We know that limiting reproductive health access has disastrous consequences. People who are denied access to reproductive health care—disproportionately those struggling financially; Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities; young people; rural communities; immigrants; people living with disabilities; and LGBTQ individuals—are more likely to live in poverty and to remain in abusive relationships. High rates of unsafe abortions are directly associated with laws restricting access to critical health care. Our communities should be places where anyone who has, or may ever, terminate a pregnancy feels loved, welcomed, and supported. They should be places where people understand what our tradition teaches about these issues. And they should be places where we understand the importance of fighting for reproductive health, rights, and justice for everyone. We must not remain idle while barriers to health care place any individual’s health, well-being, autonomy, and economic security at risk. Repro Shabbat falls on the Shabbat when Jews read Mishpatim, the Torah portion with the verses that form the basis of the Jewish approach to reproductive freedom—the story of an accidental miscarriage that teaches us much about how Judaism does, and doesn’t, regard the personhood of a fetus. It’s important for our communities to gather on this Shabbat, during this moment in our country—with a new formation of the Supreme Court installed, with over 450 restrictions on abortion access passed since 2011, and at least 18 cases in the lower courts that could make their way to the Supreme Court and pose a real threat to Roe v. Wade. It’s so critical that our communities understand what Judaism has to offer on this important topic, and for us to make clear that we are offer loving spaces for those for whom abortion is neither an abstract nor theoretical topic. 3 What is this toolkit and who is it for? This is really a guide for anyone who might be planning a Repro Shabbat event, or a series of them, for their shul, NCJW section, Hillel, JCC, or other community. Whether Repro Shabbat in your community will be one event or moment, or multiple programs across multiple days, we hope that your community will take this important opportunity to learn and speak up. NCJW Advocates, look for other supplementary materials that will be coming your way soon with information about planning programs and/or partnering with local synagogues. THIS TOOLKIT CONTAINS · Sermon talking points: Four possible angles for a d’var Torah, with resources · A guide for holding an interfaith panel or discussion · A Jewish text study source sheet and guide · We Testify stories and discussion guide · A pastoral discussion guide These resources that could lead to the creation of several different kinds of Repro Shabbat events, taking place at different times over Shabbat or during the week before or after Repro Shabbat itself. The invitation is for you to take these resources and create the program or programs that will work best for your community. There are a lot of ways a Repro Shabbat could look. For example: · The We Testify story discussion in breakout groups as a set induction before the d’var Torah on repro issues · A d’var Torah on Shabbat morning, a pastoral conversation with members of the community who have terminated pregnancies on Shabbat afternoon, and an interfaith discussion with a local minister or imam on Sunday · The interfaith panel Wednesday evening, the pastoral conversation Friday afternoon, A d’var Torah Friday evening, and the We Testify stories and discussion on Shabbat morning, in lieu of a sermon, and the text study Shabbat afternoon. · The text study and We Testify stories in lieu of a sermon, or in addition to it. · Combining some or all of the above with bringing in someone from your local reproductive justice organization to talk about what reproductive justice is, or someone engaged in advocacy work to talk about what’s happening on the local and/or state level, and what the congregation can do to get involved. (Note: outside speakers should be compensated appropriately, especially—but not only—if they are BIPOC leaders.) 4 The resources below can be used as-is, or adapted in any way that works for your community. They certainly can be mixed and matched. You can utilize all, some, or just one or two of them, or you can bring the discussion about reproductive health, rights, and justice to your community in some other way. NCJW is here to help amplify and support your community’s work. If you are planning a Repro Shabbat event—and “event” can include regular programming tailored to the theme of this special weekend, such as, “This will be the subject of the d’var Torah at services that week.” Please let us know at [email protected]. Shortly before the week of Repro Shabbat, we will list all Repro Shabbat events online to encourage the Jewish community to attend, and we’d also love to include yours. We also strongly encourage you to collaborate with your local NCJW section—our advocates are excited about partnering with you and adding capacity on the planning side of your events. To find contact info for the section near you, you can gohere , and if you need assistance, please reach out to [email protected] and we can put you in touch with the section president. And, if you would like to discuss the process or planning side of your program, feel free to reach out to Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, NCJW’s Scholar in Residence, at [email protected]. This Repro Shabbat Toolkit was made possible in part by a gift from Renata Landres, a lifelong advocate for reproductive health, rights, and justice. 5 Sermon Talking Points Here are a few ideas for directions a Repro Shabbat d’var Torah could take, and some supporting points that could be useful. Of course, many of these issues are overlapping and deeply connected, and many of these can be combined in various ways. The other resources in this packet—particularly the We Testify storytelling resources— can be used in concert with a d’var Torah, and in fact inviting congregants to look at the We Testify stories in breakout rooms before or after the drasha could powerfully deepen their experience and understanding. A loving reminder: many transgender men, nonbinary, intersex, gender nonconforming people, and others need access to the full range of reproductive health care. One way to be more accurate and inclusive is to use gender-neutral language (i.e. “people,” “pregnant individuals,” or “patients” rather than “women”, or to say “women and all people who can get pregnant”). 1. Abortion is permitted and sometimes required in halakha This may seem obvious to many Jewish clergy, but it is not clear to all Jews, particularly given how certain religious communities have advocated for restrictions on abortion access in the US See the Extended Source Sheet for the sources and particular approaches to this. They are: a. The fetus does not have the status of personhood. b. Sources requiring capital punishment for causing the death of a pregnant person, but only monetary damages for causing a miscarriage, based in Parshat Mishpatim, the Torah portion of Repro Shabbat. c. The full status of personhood begins at viable birth. d. Sources on the life of the pregnant person taking precedence in the event of a difficult birth until the head emerges in birth and a first breath is taken. e. The fetus’ status during pregnancy. f. Sources asserting that, for the first 40 days, a fetus is “mere fluid” and regarded as part of the pregnant person’s body from then until birth. g. Abortion as self-defense. h. Sources on din rodef, or abortion as pikuach nefesh, and self-defense when the pregnant person’s life is at stake. i. Additional sources from the 18th c to today. j. Sources that expand the permissibility of abortion in various ways. 6 2. Reproductive freedom is a First Amendment issue Laws granting “fetal personhood” and/or asserting that life begins at conception violate the Establishment Clause by enshrining one religious view into law. This violates pregnant individuals’ rights to make their own decisions about their bodies, as well as collectively violating most Jews’ right to practice Judaism, which permits, and even sometimes requires terminating pregnancies, if the life of the pregnant person is at stake. Roe v. Wade already established that laws banning and/or limiting access to abortion care also violate the constitutional right to privacy found in the Fourteenth Amendment. See this op-ed by NCJW CEO Sheila Katz, this piece in USA Today, this op-ed by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, and NCJW talking points on Abortion and Religious Liberty (pages 18-19).
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